


Gotham City Ghostbusters

by pennysparrow



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Ghostbusters AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-08-31 19:44:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8591200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparrow/pseuds/pennysparrow
Summary: In this world Gotham has no Bats or Birds but it does have more than its fair share of ghosts. Bruce Wayne is the top ghost hunter in the country (and likely the world). After multiple run-ins with the dangers that come with sending ghosts to where ever it is they belong Bruce has benched his kids from assisting him. That doesn't mean that they and their friends still won't do what they can to help. Essentially the Batkids are all teenagers and bust ghosts Scooby-Doo style.





	1. Gotham's Most Famous Ghost Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AlmondRose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlmondRose/gifts).



> This is based off the incredible artwork by almondrose-stuff on Tumblr. The link to it can be found here:   
> http://stephaniie-brown.tumblr.com/post/153026191331/hear-me-out-batfam-as-a-teenage-ghost-hunting

Gotham City was haunted. No ands, ifs or buts about it. For centuries, the city was secretly governed by the Court of Owls and the innocent people and opposition that the Court’s Talons killed tended to stick around. Add in the special brand of crazy that Gotham seemed to attract and its high crime rate and you had an epicenter for paranormal activity. Not to mention that Gothamites were stubborn, in both life and death which only added to the problem.  


Under Thomas and Martha Wayne, Wayne Enterprises rose to the forefront in medical, technological, and supernatural development. For a time it seemed like Wayne Enterprises would become another of Gotham’s ghosts as Thomas and Martha were shot by a man possessed by a malicious spirit in front of their young son Bruce. Unlike many others, Thomas and Martha did not return after that night and Bruce Wayne was left orphaned. Only his family’s loyal butler to care for him in the huge mansion that seemed at odds with the rest of Gotham as no Wayne ancestors remained at the premises. From that night on Bruce vowed to rid Gotham of its nonliving residents. What he never expected was that he would gain a gaggle of teenagers in the process.


	2. A Robin's First Flight

Dick Grayson was an acrobat and a trapeze artist, he knew how to fly before he had learned to walk. Traveling with Haly’s Circus and performing with his mother and father to a new city or town every week was the best thing Dick could ever hope for. 

When he was ten his life literally crashed down around him.

The circus was holding its opening night performance in Gotham City, the first time Haly’s had been back to Gotham since before Dick had been born. Everyone was nervous, mutterings of ghosts moving through the tents as old good luck charms were carefully placed throughout. Even Dick’s mother Mary hung the Rowan wood Robin pendant around his neck saying, “Don’t you dare take this off, for as long as we’re in this city. Understood?” He nodded but ignored what he thought were just old superstitions as he ran around exploring the new camp before the night’s performance.

The light faded from the sky as the people of Gotham flocked to the bright and twinkling tents in the dim evening. Dick stretched in the small backstage area, nervous energy making him hyper-active as his parents went through their stretches with him. Soon enough it was time and the trio known as the Flying Graysons climbed the ladder into the heavens of the darkened big top. They began their act, flipping and twirling through the air without a net as the audience below gasped and cheered. Dick stood on the small platform and watched his parents perform their special portion of the act when he heard a soft whoosh and watched as one of the ropes of the trapeze bar his parents were swinging from was severed. He stared in terror and shock as they fell down, down, down.

What could have been hours or minutes later Dick found himself sitting across from a man named Commissioner Gordon in his family’s small trailer, clutching the small robin his mother made him promise to wear as if his life depended on it. The commissioner was explaining that the man who did this had been one of the strongest spirits in Gotham, a dead Talon, eternal assassin for the Court of Owls. He explained that the paranormal division would be doing their best but in the meantime a very nice man named Bruce Wayne had offered to let Dick stay with him until the investigation concluded and next of kin could be located.

Over the next few hours turned days turned weeks Dick was dazed. Like when he would get jetlag and wander around not sure why he was awake and unaware of where he was. Except this didn’t last a few hours, it was continuous. He had vague impressions of a man in a suit who seemed much younger than his parents but almost as big as the strongman, kneeling-down to look him in the eye and explaining something about a house. Then Dick was in a house, a huge house and the man was there again but so was another man, this one almost as old as Mr. Haly and he was leading Dick to a room and a bed. He remembered eating and showering and sleeping. The older man bringing him his suitcase with clothes and other belongings. The days blurred together into a haze and Dick just kept remembering being unable to catch his parents and the commissioner man saying it had been a ghost.

That’s what Dick woke up screaming in the middle of the night, two weeks after coming to Wayne Manor. Bruce heard the child’s frightened yell of “GHOST!” and immediately grabbed his plasma gun before sprinting towards the boy’s room. He kicked the door open and expertly scanned the space, prepared to eliminate any pesky poltergeist or other spirit. All he saw though was the little boy sitting bolt upright in bed panting. Bruce lowered the weapon and slowly walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. He flicked the lamp on the nightstand on and saw the sheen of tears on Dick’s face.

“Shhh. It’s ok. You’re going to be ok.” He set the gun down on the nightstand and moved to pat the little boy’s back. Before Bruce could the younger boy launched himself into Bruce’s chest, messy black hair flailing at the sudden movement.

“It was a ghost. A ghost killed my parents. This city is cursed,” Dick sobbed into Bruce’s T-shirt and Bruce held him closer as his father and then Alfred used to hold him. As if thinking of the butler could summon him, Alfred appeared in the doorway holding a tray with three steaming mugs and a plate of the best chocolate-chip cookies in the world.

He moved the plasma gun over in order to set down the tray and then sat on the bed as well. “Would you like some hot chocolate, Master Richard?” he asked softly, mug already in hand. They boy began untangling himself from Bruce as he nodded, accepting the mug.

He took a few tentative sips before hiccupping. He made a face as he attempted to drink around the small gasps that his diaphragm was betraying him with. After a few minutes of silence he finally spoke, the first since he came if not counting his earlier outbursts. “If- If the- man who,” he paused here to take another sip of his hot chocolate before steeling himself to continue, “killed my parents. If he was a- a ghost? How? How is he going to be brought to justice?” He turned his wide, sky blue eyes to Bruce and Alfred, fear etched across his features.

Bruce ran his fingers through the child’s hair and smiled sadly. Dick reminded him so much of himself and he didn’t want the boy to become vengeful and haunted by mental ghosts like he was. “I’ll help you get justice for your parents. The police aren’t capable of handling all of the paranormal activity in this city and I’ve trained to be able to deal with a lot of it myself. I can teach you too.”

For a moment light returned to Dick’s hollow eyes before determination set in and the boy nodded, grinning into his mug.


	3. Lose a Tire or Gain a Boy?

Jason grumbled at Bruce Wayne, even though the papers called the famous ghost hunter Batman. Jason thought that was ridiculous and decided to tell the billionaire so, “Batman? What kinda name for a ghost hunter is Batman? I mean I get the whole havin’ to go with the ‘I’m the night’ thing but bats are vampires, not ghosts.” Jason was rambling but he really couldn’t be blamed for it, he was sitting in the front seat of the man’s specially equipped car driving to the man’s huge ghost resistant house. He squirmed in the seat as they drove right into the mouth of a huge cave. “Oh yeah. That’s why. Cause you keep your personal lab in a cave. Who even has their own personal lab?! Never mind their own personal cave!”

Jason saw the man glance over at him and tried to shrink back into the seat. He had been worried he was going to be sent to the cops, not taken back to Bruce Wayne’s top secret lab. But he figured it’s what he deserved for trying to jack the tires off the aptly dubbed Batmobile. The rims were made of solid electrum, the only metal that could be used for taking down ghosts. If he could’ve gotten just one he’d be able to melt it down and turn it into some sort of blunt object so he could smash the undead crap out of the poltergeist that was terrorizing the other kids back at the home.

They came to a stop in the center of a huge space and Bruce grunted, “Get out.” Jason scrambled to grab his tire iron off the floor before following the order. 

Another boy, about a year older than Jason, came bouncing towards them. “Hi B! Who’s this?” He asked, pointing to Jason with a confused grin. It took a second but Jason finally realized that this must be Dick Grayson. He secretly hated Grayson, all the kids did, just because when the acrobat’s life went to pieces he got the luck of being adopted by a billionaire. Now that the other boy was standing in front of him though Jason couldn’t seem to hate him, Dick was just too bright and he seemed to emanate happiness.

“This is Jason. He seems to know a thing or two when it comes to dealing with ghosts and I’d like to make him a part of the team.” Came the grumbled reply from Bruce as he marched across the cave.

If possible Dick’s smile got even wider and brighter as the older boy began cartwheeling around the huge space. He stopped right in front of Jason who was quickly enveloped in a hug. “Watch out, he’s a hugger,” Bruce grunted from the huge computer screen that he was looking at.

“A little late!” Jason yelled back and tried to remove himself from Dick’s grip but the other boy was crazy strong. “Why are you hugging me?” he finally asked, just giving up.

“Because ‘part of the team’ is code for part of the family,” Dick pulled back to smile at Jason again before gasping, “We’ve gotta tell Alfred!” Soon Jason was being pulled up the steps wondering what in the world just happened.


	4. New Life, New Home

Cass stood nervously on the front steps, staring up at the huge door. She looked to the redheaded girl beside her. Barbara smiled and knocked and Cass was surprised when an older man in a suit swung the huge door open to them. “Ah, you must be Miss Cassandra,” he smiled but Cass saw _warmth, care, welcome, helping_ and she calmed instantly, following the other teen into the huge house. 

Her father had taught her how to create spirits by killing someone in the just the right way in which their essence would continue when their body did not. Cass had only accomplished it once and the abject wrongness of the act forced her to run. How she ended up in Gotham was a mystery but part of her wanted to undo what she had done and allow people to move on rather than keeping them tethered here and Gotham seemed like the place to do that. 

Barbara had found her outside the soup kitchen her and her own kind father volunteered at. She noticed something off about Cass and had offered help, food, and shelter. Barbara’s father allowed her to stay with them and the other girl had worked out what Cass’s father had done to her. Their conversations were mostly the other girl gesturing or pulling up pictures at which Cass would either nod or shake her head. Though Barbara had been teaching her gestures that meant other things as well.

When the offer was made to Cass of a permanent home with people who would understand and not judge she immediately agreed although now she was nervous. It would be her first-time meeting “the boys” and Cass was allowed to change her mind after this meeting but she feared that they would change their minds. 

They moved slowly through the house even though Barbara could out-pace many people despite her paralysis and crutch, Cass suspected it was meant to give her time to adjust. The older man, Alfred she remembered he was called, chatted softly with Barbara as they made their way through the halls. Voices could be heard coming from a room further down and Cass began to mentally brace herself. They entered the kitchen and she took a second to glance around the bright space. It was clean with large, shiny metal appliances. At odds was the large wooden table and chairs that took up one half of the space by the windows. Around it sat four dark haired males, the younger three talking and the older fourth overseeing it all with a slight smile and amusement glinting in his eyes.

Barbara made her way towards the one and Cass could see them both saying _happiness, comfort, companionship, relief,_ and what she had recently learned was _love_. This boy was obviously the “boyfriend” Barbara spoke so often about, Dick. 

The older of the four looked up at Cass and smiled, _strength, hope, helpful, nervous,_ was what his body told her while he began to speak and make those same gestures that Barbara had been teaching her. “Hello Cassandra and welcome to Wayne Manor. I’m Bruce and these are my sons Dick and Jason.” He motioned to Dick, who Barbara was sitting next to and the larger boy at the other end of the table with streak of white in his black hair, like the forelock of a horse. “And our neighbor Tim who stays with us while his parents are away on business.” He motioned to the slightest of the three boys who sat across from Dick. He gave a slight wave and smiled. 

Cass waved back and looked around at the people again. The boy with the white streak, Jason, said _frustration, relaxed, resolute_ while Tim said _intelligence, want, friendship_. Her eyes slid back to Dick and this time he had added _warmth_ and _energetic_. Alfred had motioned for her to take a seat at the table as he brought over a plate of cookies. “You have to try one of these!” Dick enthused as he placed one on a napkin and handed it to her. Cass glanced at Barbara gave her a small nod and a smile so Cass gave the cookie an experimental nibble. 

She couldn’t stop her eyes from widening in pleasure as she rushed to take another bite, feeling the warm chocolate coat her tongue. Jason chuckled, “Good huh?” She nodded and reached questioningly for another one. Tim passed her the plate before taking one himself.

“Alfred’s cookies are world famous!” Dick crowed to laughs from the others. Soon they all fell into an easy conversation that Cass allowed to just wash over her. The words were foreign to hear but she enjoyed watching much more and for the first time in her life she felt as if she was home.


	5. Leaving the Nest

Things had been strange since Jason had been possessed and Barbara had gotten injured. Bruce stopped letting the boys go out with him and the phantom limb that Barbara was given was still acclimating to her body meaning she couldn’t leave her house. Tim’s parents had fled the city after hearing about what had happened leaving Tim home alone. Again.

This meant that Tim was staying with the Waynes once again and while he normally enjoyed staying with them given the circumstances he was not having the best time. Jason had locked himself in his room, only opening the door after Alfred had left a tray of food. Dick had defied Bruce’s request and had destroyed the malicious spirit that had taken hold of Jason and drove the other boy mad, and made him sever an artery in Barbara’s leg. They’d only been able to release him from the possession thanks to quick thinking and Tim’s extensive research on Gotham’s ghosts. But this also meant that tensions between Bruce and Dick were running high in addition to Jason’s self-imposed seclusion. 

Tim had taken it upon himself to try and restore order to the normally boisterous household. He ended up spending a lot of time down in the cave with Bruce tinkering with the different equipment. They became increasingly close and Bruce began to ask for Tim’s opinion on different cases. He even got Bruce to realize that Dick wasn’t defying his request but rather protecting his brother.

Tim also spent time with Dick who had been moping that Jason had been avoiding the family. They would play video games together and talk about everything from school to Tim’s crappy parents to (thanks to Tim’s careful steering of the conversation) Bruce. Tim mentioned how Bruce assumed he was protecting his sons while Dick explained that he was trying to protect Jason. Realizing this the two Waynes began to slowly forgive each other and Tim was proud of the work he was doing during his stay at the manor. 

If only he could reach Jason.

Tim knew as well as anyone that Jason loved to read and especially the classics. One Saturday Tim gathered an armful of books from the manor’s extensive library and sat himself down in front of Jason’s door. Opening the one on top of the pile he began to read. Three chapters in and the door he had been leaning against flew inward, tumbling Tim backwards onto Jason’s feet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the older boy growled. Tim scramble to his feet and tried not to stare at the streak of white that the possession had left in Jason’s hair.

He blinked and opened his mouth to speak but then closed it at Jason’s glare. He swallowed and began edging backward from the doorway. Jason had hit a growth spurt over the past month locked in his room and now loomed over Tim who was naturally short for his age. The older boy’s shoulders had broadened too and Tim and the sudden thought that Jason could probably take Dick in a fight. Maybe even Bruce.

Jason rolled his eyes and snatched the book from Tim’s hand, “You started in the wrong order, this is the third book. C’mon, we’ll start over.” He bent down and scooped up the other books from the hall, Tim trailing after him wearing a goofy smile.

It was going on five months of Tim living with the Waynes and he was glad when Barbara was cleared to walk again and she brought the girl she had met outside the soup kitchen to live with them. Tim was happy for Cass as Bruce adopted her and he helped Barbara teach the other girl sign language. The manor settled back into a sense of normalcy and all its occupants claimed they had Tim to thank for that. Tim was just thankful for the company after his parents’ abrupt departure.

That normalcy was turned on its head one morning as Alfred opened the door to a federal agent saying he had been informed that Timothy Drake was staying here and he would like to speak with Mr. Drake. In private. The agent was escorted to a sitting room as Alfred went to find Tim in the family room playing video games with Dick as Barbara and Jason played chess and Cass watched each of their movements with glee.

Tim was then escorted to the sitting room with the agent in it before Alfred politely closed the door and rushed to the study to find Bruce. “Mr. Timothy Jackson Drake?” the agent asked, eyeing Tim up and down before shaking hands. Tim nodded and motioned that the older man should sit. “I honestly wish I wasn’t here right now,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Mr. Drake-”

“Please, call me Tim,” he interrupted. Nerves began to swirl in the pit of his stomach.

“Tim,” he sighed. “Have you heard from your parents recently?”

“No, not since they left for another dig. That was about five months ago but that’s not too unusual.”

The agent now had a very pained expression on his face as he looked over the boy. “They were killed,” he stated carefully. “On their archaeological dig they broke a tomb curse and the tomb’s inhabitant didn’t take too kindly to it.” 

Tim felt like an ice cube was sliding down the back of his throat into his stomach where it settled and froze the rest of his body from there on out. “Son? You ok?” the agent asked concerned and Tim nodded, his head felt like it was full of cotton balls and helium. “We’re looking into a full investigation but as it wasn’t on U.S. soil there’s not much we can do. Each country has its own laws to deal with the paranormal. I’m sure you know that living in Gotham, this city has its own separate laws.” Tim tried to focus on that, the known, the facts, the what could be done. But it spiraled away from him at the man’s next comment. “Do you have any next of kin? There doesn’t seem to be any on file for you but we’ll keep looking. Last thing we want to have to do is put a kid like you in the system.”

Tim shook his head. There was no one, that’s why he always came here. His parents were his only family and they didn’t even care about him. A knock on the door startled Tim out of his dark thoughts and he watched as it cracked open to reveal Bruce.

“Is everything ok in here?” the billionaire asked, looking from Tim’s crushed expression to the agent’s sympathetic one.

“Mr. Wayne,” the agent rose to shake Bruce’s hand. “I’m so sorry, I’m just the bearer of bad news.” He glanced back down at Tim who had begun staring out the sitting room window. 

Bruce nodded, immediately understanding. “Tim, why don’t you go back to the family room, Jason is murdering Dick at MarioKart and I’m sure you could help with that.” Tim nodded and wandered off.

“Sorry for your loss,” the agent said to his retreating form before turning back to Bruce. “Do you know if he has any next of kin? Aunts, Uncles? Second or third cousins?”

Bruce shook his head, “There’s a reason Tim lives here when his parents abandon him in search of adventure.” Bruce’s voice took on a bitter undertone and the agent hardened his expression at this new information. 

“I see. Would you be willing to let him stay with you until CPS can come and sort everything out?”

“Absolutely. I’d actually like to gain custody of Tim if I can. I have two other adopted sons and a daughter you see. Tim is here so often he’s practically part of the family and I really do view him as my own.”

The agent smiled. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about you Mr. Wayne but after that incident a couple months ago…” Bruce’s expression darkened and the other man grimaced. “I’m just saying you’re going to need all the help you can get if you want to help that kid. Lucky for you I believe that’s exactly what you want to do so I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“Thank you,” Bruce said honestly as he walked the agent out to his government issued sedan.


	6. The Swift and Sudden Arrival of a Bird

The al Ghul’s were experts in all things paranormal, Ra’s al Ghul having discovered the immortality giving Lazarus pits centuries before. Damian had been raised surrounded by death, for the League had long ago discovered that the best assassins were those who could not be killed as they were already dead. Like his mother, Damian would not be trained only to go through the rituals of being killed, he would be granted everlasting life thanks to the pits and would one day rule the army of wayward spirits.

He also grew up hearing how his father was the greatest detective in the world and had dedicated his life to eliminating spirits, especially malicious ones like the League, from the world. So, it came as a rather large surprise when his request to meet his Father was not rejected. Talia believed that her son could learn from her Beloved in how to properly control the paranormal as rumblings of an uprising were flitting throughout the League.

This is how Damian found himself rather unceremoniously dumped on the doorstep of Wayne Manor with a suitcase and an electrum sword. He held his nose in the air and sniffed as he rang the doorbell. When there was no answer, despite the various lights shining in the many windows, Damian grew impatient and rang again this time more forcefully. He was reaching to knock when the large door swung open revealing a teenaged boy with messy black hair and wide blue eyes that perfectly matched his bright t-shirt. Damian stiffened as the other boy asked curiously, “Can I help you? And sorry it took so long, Alf’s got the night off and we were in the middle of a game.”

Damian got over his temporary shock and regained his arrogant air, “My name is Damian Wayne and I wish to speak with my father,” he stated imperiously. 

Dick tilted his head and blinked a few times, “Uh… Ok? Um… This is really out of my area of expertise.” He shook his head and looked down at the young boy again. “I’m sorry but can you repeat that?”

Damian huffed, “Imbecile. My mother is Talia al Ghul and she has sent me to live with my father Bruce Wayne. Unless the gates at the end of the drive are incorrect then this is Wayne Manor. Now lead me to my father.” 

Dick stared at the demanding child a few minutes longer, taking in his blue-green eyes, dark hair, and jaw line that was undeniably Bruce’s before shaking his head again. “Since I’m obviously having one super weird dream you might as well follow me.” He shrugged and moved to allow Damian entrance.

“-tt-” Damian said with an exaggerated eyeroll as he entered the house. Dick lead him down a long hall and around a few corners until they stopped at a large room with overstuffed couches, a huge flat-screen surrounded by video game counsels and DVDs, and four people crowded around a coffee table setting up what appeared to be some version of Monopoly involving dogs.

“Bruce?” Dick called when he stopped in the doorway, Damian stopping behind him. “There’s someone here who’d like to speak to you.” A man, the largest and eldest of the group, rose from his seated position on the floor next to the only girl. He walked towards the door but Dick stopped him before he could enter the hallway in which Damian stood. “I don’t know what the kid is talking about but he was just standing there all by himself and it’s cold out so the least we can do is let him spend the night until everything’s sorted out.”

Dick received a quizzical look but Bruce made no comment as he moved past his eldest son into the hall. He stopped when he saw Damian standing there with his electrum sword strapped to his back and bag at his feet. The boy was a spitting image of himself from that age except, his skin was darker and the shape of his eyes were familiar. They looked like Talia’s eyes. Talia, who he hadn’t even so much as called for about as long as this boy had been alive. The same amount of time they had broken up since having whirlwind romance.

The small boy eyed Bruce up and down as he stood there at a loss for words. Luckily for Bruce it was Damian who spoke first, “-tt- So you are my father. I had assumed you would be more… Formidable.” He smirked and jutted his chin out to Bruce, waiting for the other’s reaction.

Ignoring the comment Bruce simply said, “I don’t believe I caught your name.”

He sniffed before saying, “Damian. Damian Wayne.”

“Hnn. We’ll see,” Bruce replied before motioning the boy to follow him to the cave so he might be able to conduct a paternity test. The rest of his children had gathered around the edges of the doorway at this time, Dick having informed them of the kid’s claim. They desperately wanted to see the outcome of this surprising turn of events but knew following would only lead to a lengthy lecture.

A few hours and one antagonizing game of Dog-opoly later and Bruce had returned to the family room, Damian in tow. He cleared his throat before starting, “It would seem that I have gained custody of another child. Everyone, meet Damian Wayne.”

Jason scoffed as Tim blinked in shock and confusion. Cass just studied the boy and Dick wrinkled his brow. Finally, the uneasy silence that had settled over the group was broken by Jason’s barking laugh, “And this kids is why you use a condom!” He yelled out raucously before dissolving into more laughter. Dick snickered and Tim snorted, attempting to hide his amusement behind a hand, Cassandra rolled her eyes at her brother but the smirk never moved from her lips. Damian glared, turning bright red all the way to the tips of his ears.

“Jason,” Bruce reprimanded, the full force of his glower turned to his middle son. 

Jason merely shrugged, “It was a teaching moment B and somebody couldn’t let the opportunity pass.”

Unbeknownst to the others Damian’s embarrassment had fast become rage and he launched himself at Jason, pulling the sword from its scabbard on his back. Seeing the attack Jason grabbed the game board and lifted it as a shield while Dick went to grab the sword. Cass was faster than them all though and she had tackled the smaller boy while Bruce was still registering what had happened. Tim stared on in horror as his three siblings pinned Damian and wrestled the sword from his grasp. “Well, this is normally how family game nights end,” he deadpanned to glares and scoldings of “Timothy”, “Timmy”, and Jason’s out of place “Ha! Nice one Timmers!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wraps up the intro chapters! From now on will be the actual story and you'll be given introductions to the other characters there and more background on the pasts of the Wayne kids.  
> From this point on the characters are aged:  
> Dick- 18, Senior  
> Barbara- 18, Senior  
> Jason- 17, Junior  
> Duke- 16, Junior  
> Cass-17, Sophomore  
> Harper- 15, Sophomore  
> Steph- 15, Sophomore  
> Tim- 14, Sophomore  
> Damian- 12 1/2, Freshman


	7. Detention Education

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rough Ages:  
> Dick- 18, Senior  
> Barbara- 18, Senior   
> Jason- 17, Junior  
> Duke- 16, Junior  
> Cass-17, Sophomore  
> Harper- 15, Sophomore  
> Steph- 15, Sophomore  
> Tim- 14, Sophomore  
> Damian- 12 1/2, Freshman

Tim was so thankful that the universe or whatever had finally decided that he deserved some good luck. After dealing with Damian all summer and listening to how the little snot was skipping grades for the entire month of August he was afraid that Damian would end up being in his class. The joke was on the kid though because Tim himself had skipped a grade a couple years ago and was currently attending Gotham Academy as a Sophomore. Damian was only a freshman.

What was even better was that despite her low reading level Cass was only bumped back to being a Sophomore rather than being a Junior like Jason. This meant that Damian wouldn’t be having many classes with her either but Tim would. Making Damian extremely jealous as Cass was the only sibling besides Dick that he seemed to even tolerate.

Of course his luck wouldn’t hold out as he was currently sitting in detention next to the twerp. On the first day. Bruce was going to lecture and Alfred… was going to put his disappointed face on and not bake cookies for a month. Especially as Tim watched as Jason sauntered in, followed closely by Dick, Cass, and Babs.

“What’re you in here for Timmy?” Dick asked curiously.

Tim shrugged and replied sheepishly, “Got caught using the school WiFi to hack into S.H.A.D.E. records.” Dick gave a low whistle before chuckling and shaking his head.

The eldest then turned to Jason, taking in the split lip and growing bruise under his eye. “Jay?” he asked simply.

Jason flopped down into the desk on the other side of Tim. “Some jerkwads decided to try and steal Rose’s sketchbook. I wouldn’t let ‘em,” he said with a shrug.

Dick turned a questioning look to Cass as she weaved her way over to perch on Barbara’s desk. “Helped,” was all she said as she hopped up, deftly avoiding the crutch propped against the desk top. Tim wasn’t surprised at the statement but compared to Jason the only thing that indicated the lithe girl had been in a fight was her disheveled black bob.

“Dami?” Dick turned a grin on the youngest who glared petulantly back.

Finally, he deigned it was time for a response, “-tt- I called my teacher an imbecile and rightly so.” His small round nose lifted as he crossed his arms and mimicked Bruce’s infamous glare.

“What about you two?” Jason gestured between Barbara and Dick, a wicked smile growing as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Dick’s face flushed as his expression darkened and Barbara’s skin was nearly the same shade of red as her hair. “Next time get a room!” he cackled. 

Tim raised his eyes heavenward as he heard Dick mutter “We did.” Cass grinned, Barbara face palmed, and Jason’s laughing doubled.

“Gordon! I had not realized you were such a harlot. Grayson on the other hand,” Damian sneered. Babs grabbed her crutch and looked about ready to pummel Damian when the door swung open once more.

A girl with a bright blue and purple undercut walked in followed by a blonde and an African-American boy. Catching sight of Jason he walked over and the two performed an overly complex handshake before Duke asked what happened to Jason’s face and he had launched into an elaborate retelling. 

Stephanie sauntered over and plopped herself on Tim’s desk with a cheery “Hiya Timbo!” Her hands and a good deal of her forearms were covered in purple paint. Without thinking he went to pull a glob of it from her hair. He paused and blushed nearly as deep as Barbara had earlier and instead said, “You have paint. In your hair.”

She frowned and began trying to work her fingers through the stuck-together strands. “Harper,” she whined at the blue-haired girl. “You promised me I wouldn’t get it in my hair again!”

Harper shrugged before once again turning her back on the Waynes, Barbara, and the two she walked in with. “Why, exactly are you covered in paint and in detention?” Tim asked his friend.

Steph gave an exaggerated eyeroll before sticking her thumb at Harper. “Ask her. She’s the one in charge.” 

“Harper, you can trust these guys. I can vouch for them,” Duke said honestly. Duke was a really nice guy and like Barbara and Steph had become a semi-permeant fixture at the manor. He and Jason had been in English together the year before and Duke was one of the only people who had not been wary of Jason following his possession. They had quickly bonded over a mutual love of poetry. 

Harper spun back around in her seat. “Oh yes,” her voice dripped sarcasm. “The Wayne Bunch and the police commissioner’s daughter. Because they’re not going to rat.”

“Harper, you’d be surprised,” Steph said sincerely. Tim glanced around at his other siblings. None of them seemed to know what was going on either. 

Harper sighed and relented, getting up and perching on the back of her chair to face them fully. “The school is lying about the ‘wards’. I worked here all summer as part of my scholarship-”

“We all did,” Duke added.

Harper nodded and continued, “Not once did I see any wards, from Wayne Tech, Luthor Corp, Kord Industries, Q Corp, or Palmer Tech. Not even a trace of the kind I make for the people in my building out of scraps. The only ‘wards’ here is that mystical mumbo-jumbo crap that the Court of Owls must have sold ‘em when the school was built.” 

Tim’s mind whirled as he thought of the implications of that. Dick was on the same train of thought as he said, “So it’s false advertising saying this is the most secure school in Gotham.” 

Barbara pursed her lips, “Not to mention illegal. All schools, hospitals, and public buildings are required to have wards.”

Looks of frustration and annoyance settled onto the faces of his siblings as Tim looked back to Harper. “So what did you guys do?”

She smirked, “Protested. Looked up some of those old runes and painted them on the side of the school.”

“In bright purple,” Stephanie added proudly.

“Except Duke decided to slack off on being look-out and we got caught,” Harper leveled an annoyed look on her friend who shrugged.

“And made me get covered in paint,” Steph mumbled and Tim couldn’t help but to laugh softly at her.

“Dickhead,” Jason called to their older brother. “You do know what this means?”

Dick nodded, “That a lot of people are in a lot of danger.”

“This is one of the oldest buildings in Gotham and if it hasn’t had proper wards for, well forever, then we’re in big trouble,” Tim added. “Not to mention any involvement by the Court of Owls…” He trailed off with a shake of his head.

“Explains lots,” Cass said, her large brown eyes studying the others.

“Heck yeah it does. I swear I saw something in the girl’s bathroom on the third-floor last year,” Steph added.

“-tt- I bet our presence doesn’t help,” Damian said as he wrinkled his nose. 

“But we could help? Or at least you guys could. You’re the ones with access to Wayne Enterprises,” Duke added nervously.

Jason scoffed, “Our ‘access’ is none existent. Especially since B decided to bench the lot of us.”

“We still have access to the cave. And I’ve got my escrima sticks,” Dick said slowly.

“And I can make stuff. I do already,” Tim looked at his brother seriously.

“I already have a backdoor into the police department’s computer system,” Barbara gave a wicked grin.

“So we’re doing this?” Jason confirmed.

“We’re doing this,” Dick agreed with a nod.

“Doing what?” Steph asked looking wildly around at the various Waynes and Babs. All of whom had looks of pure mischief on their faces.

“Not without us you’re not!” Harper glared, “We’re the ones who told you about this in the first place.”

“She’s right. If you’re doing this then we’re helping,” Duke said defiantly.

“Ohhhh,” Stephanie smirked. “We’re going ghostbusting!”

“We’ll have to get gear together first,” Tim broke in, ever the voice of reason.

“You get me proper supplies and I can make my own,” Harper asserted.

Dick nodded, “You guys all come over to the Manor tomorrow after school. Bruce is leaving for some business trip so we can get you guys into the cave and start training.”

They all agreed and spent the rest of detention (which the teacher for never showed up to) discussing suspicious activity at the school and making notes of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the sporadic updates, I write what I can when I can. Please stick with me though! I'm super excited about this au.
> 
> Also, Babs and Dick were just caught skipping study hall to make out in an empty classroom. Like Jason you should get your mind out of the gutter.


	8. BAT-Girls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:  
> Dick- 18, Senior  
> Barbara- 18, Senior  
> Jason- 17, Junior  
> Duke- 16, Junior  
> Cass-17, Sophomore  
> Harper- 15, Sophomore  
> Steph- 15, Sophomore  
> Tim- 14, Sophomore  
> Damian- 12 1/2, Freshman

To Barbara, Bruce was like an uncle and she loved being able to spend time with him. Because unlike her father, he wasn’t afraid to tell her things about the city’s ghosts and how to get rid of them. But what she loved even more was when he went out of town on business and she could get the run of the cave, especially since her accident. 

Barbara never blamed Jason, even if he blamed himself. He couldn’t control his actions and she was the one who opened the door thinking it was one of her close friends. She hadn’t even thought anything was out of the ordinary until he drew the knife. 

The rest of the night had been a blur of florescent lights and hospital scrubs. The way her artery had been slit meant that she should have died, or at the very least lost her leg. Thanks to modern technology, thanks to Bruce, she didn’t lose either. But what became of her leg afterward is what was being called a “phantom limb”. Like a ghost it had remained when the natural order said it should not and because of that it did not always move the way it should and occasionally felt unstable and insubstantial. Requiring her to use a crutch, even if she didn’t always need it, because there was no telling when her leg would no longer take weight. 

She took this as a challenge. 

Bruce believed it to be a liability, even if he never said it to her. Why else would he keep her from the cave? The boys may have been benched too but they at least still had limited access. 

With him away for business though Barbara had free reign. She maneuvered herself easily between the different work tables and equipment, crutch in one hand and Wayne Tech tablet in the other. Barking orders at Tim who ran around gathering supplies for her she set to work on their much needed gadgets while Dick and Jason started with the training. 

“Tim!” she called across the cave. “Do you know how to use that beautiful monstrosity of a 3D printer?”

Tim poked his head out of the storage locker he was raiding for extra electrum, “Yeah? Why?”

“Because, I’m done with the design for Steph’s bat and need someone to run the program while I get to work on those goop-a-rangs.”  
Tim took his armful of broken and bent electrum and dropped it into the oversized funnel that would melt it down for use in their 3D printer that was really more of a mold and metal casting machine than anything. She just liked referring to it as a 3D printer because it ran on similar programing. He snatched the tablet from her as she settled herself into a seat in front of the main worktable.

Years ago it had been discovered that a gelatinous, high-density substance could coat ghosts, stick them to walls and ceilings, and render them powerless. It was Babs’ weapon of choice when she was running around with Bruce and Dick before her accident. After it she had designed her own program to create a electrum crutch with the capabilities of firing the beloved goop. Dick had used his cave access to build it for her and Jason kept her in steady supply of the goop cartridges. She was currently trying to improve on her designs on the weaponized slime and create an armada of goop-grenades and goop-a-rangs rather than having to fire the substance from a gun like her crutch.

After running them through their paces Jason, Dick, and Damian brought over a very exhausted looking Steph, Duke, and Harper and a very mischievous looking Cass. They crowded around Babs and her table, examining the tech there. Duke reached his hand out to fiddle with a half-wired grenade and Barbara slapped it away, “Don’t touch.”

He quickly cradled his hand to his chest and shot her a wounded look that she merely shrugged off. “So…” Harper started, looking at the mess. “When do I get to build mine? You said I could.”

Babs passed her the tablet that Tim had returned and explained, “These are blueprints of previous or current models of tech in use by Bruce as well as my own designs. Anything on the tables – except these, don’t touch these –” she shot Duke a look, “is free reign. Have fun. Don’t blow anything up.”

“Do you know what is effective?” Tim asked kindly.

Harper rolled her eyes and began ticking off her fingers, “Electrum, high-voltages of electricity, and that funky gunk. Plus wards and those crazy weird laser grids.”

“Good. Have fun.” Babs said, her attention focused on soldering wires.

“What do you guys have?” Duke asked, genuinely curious.

“Well Dickiebird has those pretty escrima sticks. Only thing any of us has that’s officially Wayne Tech. They’re super high-voltage electricity on the one end. And then Babs has that wonderful crutch of hers, shoots goop. Damian has that pretentious electrum sword. Then I have these gorgeous twin pistols.” At this he pulled them out of the holster on his hip. “Fire bursts of goop. Made them myself.”

“-tt- They also occasionally misfire, coating Todd in that disgusting slime,” Damian said with a slightly exaggerated eye roll. 

Jason just shrugged it off, “Eh, I’m still working out some of the kinks.”

“What about you two?” Duke motioned to Tim and Cass.

“I, have this!” Tim said a little too dramatically and pulled his collapsible bo staff from his pocket. Duke quirked an unimpressed eyebrow. “It’s like Dick’s escrima sticks so it’s got like a super high voltage taser in it, but I made it myself.”

Duke nodded, slightly more impressed and turned to Cass who just shrugged, “Me?”

“Cass can hold her own just fine but these goop grenades are going to be hers.” Babs said as she soldered a few more wires together. Cass clapped her hands and grinned while Steph bumped her hip against her friend’s side.

“Alright! It’s done!” Harper called out, holding up a monstrosity of a weapon. 

“That was fast,” Dick told her, looking the large gun over. “Uh… What’s it do?”

“It shoots arcs of electricity. I want to be an electrical engineer and with access to this kinda stuff? Piece of cake,” Harper smirked proudly and propped the gun against her shoulder. Cass shot her fingers guns like Steph had shown her, causing Harper to blush a deep red.  
Barbara refocused her attention onto the work at hand when she heard a “DING!” from her beloved printer. “Tim! Go get Stephanie her bat.”

“Ha! Get it! I’ll be a BAT-girl!” The blonde was elbowing Damian in the ribs, trying to get their stoic youngest to crack a grin to no avail. Damian just gave her his signature -tt- before walking away. 

Tim had wrapped the handle with a special purple grip tape that Barbara had picked up just for the younger girl before he presented it to Steph with a flourish. “Your weapon of choice m’lady,” he said with a deep bow. 

Steph snatched the solid electrum bat from Tim with a grin, “Thanks Babs! It’s exactly what I wanted!”

“The end should flick down to reveal a button to fire a goop grenade. Also were you access the refill latch. I’ll give you them once I’m done, until then go with Tim and get a feel for it.” The younger girl smiled even wider at Barbara before skipping off deeper into the cave, Tim just behind her.

“So… What about me?” Duke asked, pulling a chair over to sit beside her.

“Well you never said what you wanted. Harper! Can you stop flirting with Cass and bring me my tablet back?”

Dick and Jason, who had been at the large computer screen behind her chuckled as the blue haired girl blushed again. Cass just smiled slyly, snatched the tablet off the table and handed it to Barbara. She pulled up the menagerie of blueprints and began showing them to Duke. 

“Anything interesting?” He shook his head so she continued to show him print after print. “Nothing?” Duke frowned a little and Babs nodded. “This stuff is too impractical for you. It’s ok, you’re a smart guy! I know exactly what you’re thinking.”

“You do?” Duke asked her skeptically.

Babs smirked, that pitch was what got her top sales clerk at the bookstore she worked in part time. “Containment. What’s the good in hunting ghosts if you’ve got nowhere to put them.”

Duke blinked, “Uh, yeah actually. I was kinda thinking about that.”

Barbara nodded and opened up a new folder, the designs in here were all for capturing and holding ghosts rather than just dispatching them into the hereafter.  


She once again began flipping through but this time Duke stopped her, “That! I want one of those.”

Barbara studied the blueprint he had stopped her on. It was one of her own designs, a compact, hand held vacuum like containment unit that worked on the same principle of sucking up and holding the ghost. “Now this is just a design, I haven’t tried making one of these just yet.”

“That’s ok. I can help,” Duke told her with a wide smile.

She nodded, “Pass me those pliers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay in updating, end of the semester had me super busy. I should get three or four chapters done over winter break and you can expect our heroes to start actually running into some ghosts now that they've got gear!


	9. A Lack of Evidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:  
> Dick- 18, Senior  
> Barbara- 18, Senior  
> Jason- 17, Junior  
> Duke- 16, Junior  
> Cass-17, Sophomore  
> Harper- 15, Sophomore  
> Steph- 15, Sophomore  
> Tim- 14, Sophomore  
> Damian- 12 1/2, Freshman

Duke really should not have been surprised, Jason had warned him, but he did not expect this. Tim stood in front of the huge screen – which Jason would call the ‘Bat-computer’ every time Tim said “as you can see here on the screen” – with a file obviously pulled directly from S.H.A.D.E. displayed on it. The supposed ‘Bat-computer’ held a map of Gotham with dots showing sightings and a list of known ghosts. When Duke had asked the Waynes why not just use Bruce’s files he’d gotten seven identical incredulous looks and finally an answer from Tim, “Because we don’t want him to know we’re doing this. My hacking may be fantastic and Barbara’s even better but Bruce is beyond paranoid and that is not something to be messed with.” Duke had simply held his hands up in surrender and motioned for Tim to simply move on.

“Alright,” Tim continued, “so we may have the run of the city while Bruce is away but going after the heavy hitters could be bad for us when he gets back. So, I say we start with some of the more pesky poltergeists in Crime Alley.”

Harper stuck her arm in the air and waved her hand, reminding Duke of a blue-haired Hermione Granger. “Hi. Yes. Question. I thought we were doing this to get rid of the ghouls at school and, y’know, expose the turds that run Gotham Academy for what they are?”

Dick turned in his seat to face Harper as he explained, “Because you, Duke, and Steph have never done this before and the rest of us are probably more than a little rusty.”

“-tt- Speak for yourself, Grayson,” Damian interjected.

Dick rolled his eyes but charged onward, “So, we’re going to practice a bit, and help out some people who really need it, before moving on to a more high priority target like the school.”

Harper narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips at the eldest but stayed silent. Duke was proud of his friend for holding her tongue. It helped that Dick had made an excellent point that he was inclined to agree with. 

“Soooo…” Steph said as she clapped her hands together and looked around at the gathered teenagers. “Are we doing this or no? Cause like, I’m ready. Like right now.”

Jason leapt to his feet from his cross-legged position on the floor. “I’m with ya, waffles. Let’s do this!”

“Busting time!” Steph called as she stood and stretched onto her tip toes. 

“Not so fast.” Barbara called and the two overeager ghost hunters paused. “If we’re going to do this we’re going to do this properly. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

Damian rolled his eyes from where he was curled into an office chair next to Dick. “Some of us know exactly how to handle spirits, Gordon. And if those who don’t are foolish enough to continue with this then they deserve whatever it is that’s coming to them.”

“Oh really pipsqueak? Ya wanna say that again?” Jason growled as he whirled towards Damian and his chair.

Dick had the fastest reflexes and managed to grab Jason and yank him back before he and Damian got into an all-out brawl. “Look, if we’re going to do this then we’re doing it together and properly. So either you both cool your jets and get off your high horses or you stay here. Understood?” The younger boys grumbled but nodded their agreement to Dick’s terms, “Good. Tim? Mind continuing?”

Tim blinked and shook his head as if to clear it. Duke couldn’t blame him, it was tough to keep up with the events of the Waynes even if you were one of them. No wonder they never got any offers for a reality tv show. Or at least never accepted them. Tim cleared his throat before he finally managed to lay out the plan, “So there’s a soup kitchen that’s been having serious problems with its fresh food being removed from the fridge and being left to spoil overnight. They haven’t been able to properly ward the place yet because of the ghost already being there and they can’t afford to hire someone to get rid of it since they have to keep buying more food. We go in, get rid of whoever it is that keeps wasting food and ward the place for them.”

“That’s it? Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!” Stephanie said as she once again rose from her seat.

Cass gripped her wrist and tugged her back onto the stool she had been perched on. “Not quite.”

“Uh. Cass? What do you mean ‘not quite’?” Duke asked, mild concern growing in his gut.

She scrunched up her nose at Duke as she began signing at him in rapid speed. Despite his best efforts, Duke didn’t know enough ASL yet to understand Cass when her words failed her and she saw that so she paused and made a gesture that wasn’t sign language but Duke would easily understand. She splayed her fingers and held her hand out palm down before twisting her wrist, Duke knew that as the semi-universal signal for ‘ehhh’ and ‘iffy’. She followed it by spinning her hands around each other horizontally, almost like a cha-cha but her hands remained unclenched and she only rotated her wrists. They all knew that was Cass for ‘it’s very complicated and I have a lot I don’t actually know how to say’. 

“It’s ok Cass,” Harper told her gently, a small smile on her face. “Just take it one piece at a time.”

Cass grinned back at the other girl before taking a deep breath and saying slowly, “Don’t know… what type. Many move stuff. Most very… da- danger- dangerous.” Her almond eyes flashed with pride and Barbara grinned as Dick clapped her on the shoulder before she continued. “No proof but food. Right Tim?” She motioned towards the screen and her brother nodded.

“Yeah Cass. We don’t have any video footage, no pictures, not even a witness. The only thing we know is that it’s stuck in a loop, only ever taking it off the third shelf and placing it on the shelf immediately to the left of the fridge. It empties the entire shelf every time and leaves the door open when they’re done. So lack of information is bad information in this case. Well, in most cases but that’s irrelevant.” Tim trailed off as he looked to his older brothers.

“There’s enough of us with experience not to mention there’s the saying strength in numbers so I say we get going. What better way to start off than to save some lettuce?” Jason glanced around the cave from the others and not hearing any immediate no’s he began strolling to the cars.

“Well the best that will happen is one of you imbeciles get killed, at worse only slightly maimed so,” Damian shrugged before following after Jason.

“This does not bode well,” Barbara said as Dick gave her a hand and called after his brothers that he was driving so Damian don’t even think about it because he wasn’t even old enough for a license. 

Tim grimaced at the trio of “newbies” as Babs had gotten Cass to lovingly refer to them as. He tossed them their supplies as Cass came back from somewhere else in the cave – Duke didn’t even know when managed to disappear in the first place – with what was being dubbed their uniforms. Three bright orange rain ponchos. “Seriously? I thought you were being sarcastic?” Duke said wounded as Cass tugged the plastic monstrosity into place.

“Goop not to be taken lightly.” She told him mischievously.

Cass moved onto Harper who tried to dodge her but was unable as the other girl deftly caught her and forced the poncho over her head. “Cass!” She cried outrage. Cass merely tossed Stephanie hers who donned it willingly. Tim moved past them to head to the cars himself, “You don’t actually have to wear those,” he said as he passed.

“Don’t listen to Timmers! They’re mandatory for beginners!” Jason called from somewhere.

“Mandatory,” Cass said decisively and linked her arms with Duke and Harper as Steph skipped after them to where ever the rest of the Waynes managed to get to in this immense space. Duke swears he saw a dinosaur on the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so maybe I lied about them meeting an actual ghost this chapter but they learned about one! And S.H.A.D.E. does exist in the DCU in case you were curious, it's the supernatural/paranormal version of argus, checkmate, spyral, etc. So it'll be showing up in here quite a bit. If you've got any questions please feel free to leave a comment or drop me an ask on tumblr @thelittleredheadedmusician


	10. A-Hunting We Will Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dick- 18, Senior  
> Barbara- 18, Senior   
> Jason- 17, Junior  
> Duke- 16, Junior  
> Cass-17, Sophomore  
> Harper- 15, Sophomore  
> Steph- 15, Sophomore  
> Tim- 14, Sophomore  
> Damian- 12 1/2, Freshman

Grayson, Todd, Cassandra, and to an extent Gordon had all been trained in how to handle ghosts so Damian saw no harm in going hunting with them. Brown, Drake, Row, and Thomas however? Less than pathetically nothing. He didn’t even understand why they were being allowed to come along. Damian would admit that Drake had his uses, but not in the field. This ill thought plan would be tested and maybe then Drake would prove useless after all.

And the mode of transportation that Grayson had chosen for them? It made Damian doubt positioning the eldest as his least hated sibling. Out of all of Father’s German vehicles he had chosen the 1970’s VW van. With awful peeling orange paint and a disgusting interior that smelled like burnt popcorn. When Grayson had grabbed the keys and walked towards it Todd had laughed, “You’re either brave or stupid, Dickiebird.”

Grayson simply shrugged and grinned, “Why can’t I be both?”

“What are you two imbeciles talking about? And why does Father even own that eyesore?”

Jason chuckled at him, “Lucky for you Demon Brat, those answers are one in the same.” Todd swung the passenger door open as Grayson attempted to turn the likely rusted engine over. Damian wrinkled his nose at the ripped and stained upholstery. “So this here is the, what was it called again?”

“The ‘Makeout Machine’.”

“Right. It was owned by some hippie wannabe in the late 60’s early 70’s, wait, what year is it?”

“I don’t know Jay. You’re the car guy.”

“Ok. The exact year is irrelevant anyway. So this guy would drive around the country hitting up places like Woodstock and what not and trying to get girls. He’d bring them back to this once fine piece of automotive history, do as the name suggests, and drive away to the next place once they left.”

“Are you ever going to get to the point or will I be forced to continue listening to this asinine story?” Damian grumbled.

“Just for that you sir are getting the whole damn asinine thing.” Todd sounded offended but Damian knew better, not to mention Grayson was laughing as he hooked up a set of jumper cables. “So as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, this hippie used the van to get girls. Well he wasn’t the smartest and came to Gotham. Why in the world a hippie would come to Gotham rather than leave is beyond me but it is what it is. While here he met a girl but little did he know this particular girl was possessed by one of our favorite fully functional, super psychotic spirits. Poison Ivy. Well he saw the ‘save the trees’ t-shirt or whatever and decided to chat her up, mentioning he was a vegetarian in the process. She didn’t like that. So when he brought her back here she killed him and left him here to rot. That he did and his spirit decided to possess this fine hunk of metal.”

“Let me guess, Father performed an exorcism on it?” Damian quirked an eyebrow at the older boy.

“No, no, no. You were a smartass so now you’ve gotta listen to the whole damn thing.”

“Language,” Dick reprimanded from his position back behind the wheel.

Jason just rolled his eyes. “So some guy found the van a few months later, in crappy condition but drivable, and sold it. That owner experienced multiple problems with it swerving towards trees and parks and grass and any plant really. Thinking it was the steering column they sold it only for the next owner to replace said steering column and experience the same thing, but worse. Fearing their life, that person sold it and so on and so forth. Finally a couple years back some bloke bought it to restore and – is it fortunate or unfortunate that the last guy could see ghosts and what not?”

“Depends on their own outlook and the outcome of the story,” Dick said having finally gotten the thing started.

“Right. So he had the Sight and as soon as he got the van started and was cruising down the highway to go get parts he sees this hippie sitting in the seat next to him, grabbing for the wheel. He flipped and called us right away. We got rid of the poor miserable fella with a half-baked revenge plot towards plants and he gave us the thing to keep as a thank you.”

“I think Bruce originally intended for us to work on it all together but that fell through,” Dick wiped his hands on his jeans before double checking his backpack.

“Well that never happened. But it’s not going to be missed, it drives arguably well, and most importantly it will fit all of us.”

Damian -tt-ed at Todd and began unstrapping his sword from his back so he could sit relatively comfortably in the van. The others had finally managed to come over to the garage-esque area of the cave. Damian was grateful that Gordon eyed the van warily as well, “Is that even street legal?”

“Yup!” Dick responded happily. He received an incredulous look from his girlfriend though. However, the redhead sighed and moved to slide herself onto the bench seat next to Grayson. Todd climbed in next and shut the door, forcing Damian to brave the back with the other five. He wrenched the door open and crawled in. The remaining teenagers crawled in after him and he was unsurprised to see Thomas rip his poncho off as soon as Cassandra let go of him.

“Everybody in? Holding on to something?” Grayson asked, his blue eyes peering at them out of the grimy rearview mirror.

“This thing is a tetanus shot on wheels,” Row grumbled but she grabbed onto the bench.

“Alright. Let’s get ourselves a ghost!” Grayson called happily as he pulled the van out of its spot and headed out the cave’s overly large garage doors. Todd began fiddling with the radio station, an annoyed expression clouding his features as he continued to get static. Finally Gordon slapped his hand away and just turned the thing off.

“Oh thank god. Babs, you’re a saint,” Brown called from where she had squeezed herself between Damian and Drake.

The van shook and bounced as they headed into the city, the six teens crammed in the back bumping shoulders and nearly toppling into each other. “Is this just Dick’s bad driving or does this rust bucket not have shocks?” Row asked after her head smacked against Cassandra’s for the fifth time.

Cassandra and Todd both answered at the same time, a “shocks” and “yes” respectively. 

“See Jaybird? That is why Cassie is the favorite.” Cassandra preened under Grayson’s words as they finally reached their destination.

Damian leapt from the vehicle before it was even stopped, gulping in lung fulls of, relatively, fresh Gotham air. The building they had parked in front of didn’t seem to be in the best shape but it was clean and the sign by the door that read “The St. Jean Community Shelter and Soup Kitchen” looked as if it had been freshly repainted and there was a sturdy lock on the door. Grayson jumped up the two short steps and rapped neatly on the door. Damian could hear the lock click in the rapidly darkening evening as the door swung open to reveal a short man in a baseball cap, he had to look up to the beaming Grayson, who he then peered around to assess the rest of the group crowding the sidewalk. “You kids the ones who offered to take care of our little problem?”

“We sure are! Dick Grayson,” he offered the man his hand and they shook as he continued, “and we’re the Gotham City Ghostbusters.”

Damian balked at the name, if they were going to be branding themselves it should not sound like a rip-off of an 80s movie. Not to mention that Father was bound to discover what they were doing if they started advertising it. Sadly none of the others seemed to be concerned by this disturbing turn of events. He could only hope that they straightened their priorities out before they entered the soup kitchen to face whatever it was that was in there. The man motioned to Grayson to come inside and they followed after him into a tiled hall with alternating patches of light and dark stretching down it from only one set of the florescent lights being lit.

The man in the baseball cap led them down the hall towards the kitchen and flipped the light on. It was a large room that reminded Damian of the church fellowship hall that he was forcibly dragged to by his father in hopes that he would join Drake’s ridiculous scout troop. The cabinets and countertops worn and out dated, a large stove top, industrial sized convection oven and huge double door fridge the only new appliances in the room. Yet, Damian was struck by the overwhelming cleanliness of the room, almost as sterile as Alfred’s own kitchen. 

“Damian, get out of the way,” Gordon snapped at him, holding her tablet with an overly complex looking device attached to it. She was sweeping it in slow arcs back and forth through the air. “I’m definitely getting some weird readings,” she looked at Grayson with mild apprehension.

“We’ll take it from here sir. Thanks,” Grayson dismissed the man, who Damian realized must oversee the soup kitchen, and began pulling his escrima sticks out of his backpack. The man nodded then scurried from the room and Damian readied his sword, the others leveling their own weapons as well. “Ok everybody, form a loose arch around the fridge. You see anything weird or suddenly feel cold say ‘Rochambeau’ so we all know.”

Todd snorted, “Someone’s been listening to Hamilton.”

Grayson just rolled his eyes, “Shut up Jay.”

“So what? We stand around and wait for something to happen and then…?” Harper asked skeptically as she moved to the spot Grayson had motioned her to.

“Attack?” Cass shrugged helpfully.

“It might not show up if we’re around. Nothing happens we set up surveillance and move to the hall,” Drake told her, lightly jabbing Cassandra with his elbow. So the group took up their positions and began to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, cliffhanger. Sorry, I realized that the next part couldn't be from Damian's perspective since he's pretty much used to this kind of thing from the League so you can expect one of the non-Waynes to take over next! Not going to say who though. And ten points to your house if you got the Hamilton reference before reading the next line.


	11. A Swing and a Miss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dick- 18, Senior  
> Barbara- 18, Senior  
> Jason- 17, Junior  
> Duke- 16, Junior  
> Cass-17, Sophomore  
> Harper- 15, Sophomore  
> Steph- 15, Sophomore  
> Tim- 14, Sophomore  
> Damian- 12 1/2, Freshman

It had been three hours since they had set up and Steph was exhausted and bored. So very, very bored. When you’re standing around waiting for something and you’re not really sure what you get bored fast. Especially when a no talking rule has been implemented. She was suddenly struck with how easy stakeouts looked in the movies, James Bond never got so tired of standing around doing nothing that he had slid down the cabinet he was standing next to in order to sit cross-legged on the floor and lean his back against said cabinet. Not that Steph was James Bond, though she had a sneaking suspicion Alfred might be. She had laid her bat across her lap and was running her finger back and forth along the rubber on the side of her black high top. Earlier she and Cass had been signing back and forth across the semi-circle until Jason had caught on and started telling raunchy jokes, causing her to snort with laughter and the dirty looks Damian and Babs gave the two of them was enough to make her stop. The current idle motion was just enough to keep her from falling asleep when she was struck by a sudden chill. She had just flipped the hood of her favorite purple sweatshirt up when she realized what that meant. 

“Rochambeau! Rochambeau!” She whispered, scrambling back to her feet wide eyed. 

Around her the others also managed to get to their feet and ready their weapons. Steph looked around wildly as the fluorescent lighting began to flicker and it felt as though a small hedgehog was attempting to make a home in the pit of her stomach. She swallowed her fear and focused all of her attention on the fridge. Slowly, one of the huge double doors began to swing open on its own accord. Next to her Damian stiffened and she could see the tip of his outstretched sword waver. She readied her bat, holding it so the tip hung over her shoulder like they had taught her in gym class little league. The door opened fully and the lights in the kitchen had now dimmed completely, the only illumination in the large room coming from the bulb inside of the appliance. Steph and her friends held a collective breath as slowly and head of lettuce came out of the fridge and seemed to float through space before coming to a rest on the countertop. Next came another head of lettuce and Steph slowly turned her head to make eye contact with Cass. Her best friend pointed towards the ceiling with her right hand and moved her left hand, fingers flat and together with the palm pointing towards herself, in front of it to cover. Steph had learned this was the sign for invisible, she gulped and made a face at Cass. Luckily the other girl could read Steph as well and knew that meant “well crap.” Cass gave her a quick twitch of her lips and Steph slowly turned her attention back to the fridge and the ghost in their midst. 

Her gaze had slid across the floor and something there caught her eye. In the light cast from the open doorway there was a shadow on the floor. None of the others seemed to notice it when she had glanced back around the arc at them. So, Steph did what she does best and just took a deep breath before acting on instinct. Swinging her bat towards where she guessed the owner of the shadow shins would be, she hit something solid but just continued the momentum of her swing. When she no longer felt any more resistant she hopped back and opened her eyes. There on the floor with a startled look on his face was a semi-translucent little old man in a frayed coat and apron. 

“Duke!” Babs’s sharp call ran through the silent space, the first to react. Suddenly Steph heard a whirring noise and Duke shoved what looked like a dust-buster towards the figure. Just like the spiders Steph used her own handheld vacuum for at home, the ghost on the floor was sucked right up. The group of teenagers blinked as suddenly the lights came back on and the room returned to normal temperature, she hadn’t even realized it had been cold enough to see their breaths until she no longer could.

“Well,” Jason broke the tense silence. “That was anticlimactic. C’mon, let’s restock their fridge.”

Tim and Duke moved to follow Jason, putting the few items that had been removed back. Steph was still frozen, her bat half raised. Suddenly she felt herself collapsing into a graceless heap on the tile floor. Maniac giggles began bubbling out of her throat and she couldn’t stop as they turned into full blown peals of laughter. Cass and Harper both rushed to her side as Tim knelt in front of her.

“Steph?” Concern coated his voice as Tim reached out a hand and grabbed her shoulder. “You ok?”

She nodded and after several attempts finally managed to say, “I. Just. Beat up. A ghost! Me! I did! Beat up a ghost! With a freakin’ baseball bat! Ha!” Her head tilted back and she continued to cackle.

“She’s fine,” Harper said with an eye roll as she moved upright from her crouch. “So Mr. Golden Boy Grayson, now what?”

“We go back to the cave and investigate.”

“Shouldn’t we set up the wards first?” Duke asked, holding his specialized hoover as far away from his body as possible.

Tim helped Steph to her feet as her laughing finally started to sober. “They just asked us to get rid of the ghost, they’re having professionals come in first thing in the morning.”

“-tt- Professionals.” Damian scoffed, though Stephanie noticed he eyed Duke and his vacuum rather warily before turning his nose up and marching towards the door. “Come. I wish to sleep at some point before dawn.”

Dick laughed and Stephanie couldn’t help but crack a grin herself as the group followed the youngest back out. They encountered the proprietor sitting on the front steps. “It’s done?” he asked in deep scratchy voice. Steph had found herself leaning against Cass as they waited at the back of the group. Harper shot the two a look before quickly turning her attention back to Dick.

“Yup! You shouldn’t be having any more problems! We even put the food back,” Dick informed him cheerily.

The man chuckled at that, “Thanks kids. This was a big help. And you’re always welcome here if you need a meal or would like to volunteer.”

They all chorused their own gratitude at the offer before moving past him to the van that was still parked at the curb.

“Aw shucks! I was hoping somebody would’ve at least tried to jack the tires.” Jason loudly complained as they climbed in.

“Be honest Jay, would you?” Babs asked with a quirked brow and cheerful grin.

“Honestly Barbie? Even I would be too embarrassed to admit being caught stealing from this thing. Nevertheless riding in it.”

Steph burst out laughing, Tim had told her Jason’s “origin story” and this was just too good. “Fine!” Dick grumbled as he turned the engine over. “We’ll paint the darn thing. Happy?”

Everyone yelled yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't leave that cliffhanger unresolved. So two postings in one day! And the kids have faced their first real life ghost! to mixed results...


	12. A Short Reprive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages:  
> Dick- 18, Senior  
> Barbara- 18, Senior   
> Jason- 17, Junior  
> Duke- 16, Junior  
> Cass-17, Sophomore  
> Harper- 15, Sophomore  
> Steph- 15, Sophomore  
> Tim- 14, Sophomore  
> Damian- 12 1/2, Freshman

Dick was pacing the cave, hand on the back of his neck and eyes slightly glazed over. He was ignoring the others who had gathered around the huge computer screen and Duke’s vacuum/containment device. “Dick. Stop that! You look like B and it’s freaking me out.” Jason yelled down at him and Dick winced. He shook his head and walked back towards the others. Glaring at the screen Dick took in the pieces of information from old news articles and records.

The rest of the group all looked at him and he glanced at the time in the corner of the screen, it read well past two in the morning. “I say we call it a night all. Sorry but none of us are going to get anything done if we’re exhausted. Harper, Duke, Steph, Babs you’re all welcome to one of the guest rooms. We can keep going tomorrow.” They dispersed and he heard good natured teasing from his siblings as they shuffled upstairs. Babs walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his middle. He hugged her in return and buried his face in her red hair.

“You ok?” She asked, her intelligent green eyes searching his face.

“I feel like I should be asking you that. I’ve barely seen you use your crutch since we got back to the cave.”

He felt her shrug against him. “I don’t always need it. Anyway, right now I’ve got you to hold me up.” She gave him a cocky grin before pushing herself up on her tip toes. Meeting her halfway Dick ducked his head to gently brush his lips against hers before sweeping her up off her feet. She let out a brief noise of surprise and protest but Dick ignored it. Chuckling he carried her bridal style back up to the main floor of the manor.

“This really isn’t necessary,” she told him softly as he reached the foyer and continued to carry her up the manor’s grand staircase.

Dick just smiled down at her, “I can’t be a caring boyfriend and carry my wonderful girlfriend to her room?” Babs rolled her eyes but a slight blush colored her cheeks. Reaching the room that she normally used whenever she stayed over Dick nudged the door open with the toe of his sneaker. Walking across the carpet he gently sat her down on the mattress of the large four-poster bed. “Now was that so hard?”

She smirked and pushed herself towards the center of the mattress, pulling the covers back. “Alright. You win this round Boy Wonder. Now I left my shoes in the cave thanks to you.”

Dick grinned and shrugged, “I guess I’ll just have to go get them for you. Be right back!” Her laughter followed him as he jogged down the hall. Jumping onto the railing at the top of the stairs he slid easily down the banister, landing lightly in the foyer. Before he went back down to the cave he decided to stop in the kitchen and leave a note for Alfred asking if the butler would mind making breakfast for four extra people in the morning. Dick had a sneaking suspicion that his quasi grandfather already intended on doing just that. The Englishman had come to expect any of the Wayne kids’ friends to stay the night whenever they came over and after the constant after school training sessions they had been hosting this past week for Duke, Stephanie, and Harper there was no way Alfred didn’t see this coming.

Dick signed the note with a flourish before walking back down the hall to the living room and the concealed entrance to the cave. Running down the well-worn steps two at a time he came to the bottom where the high-tech equipment lit the cavern enough that he could see Barbara’s beat-up converse and her electrum crutch on the floor next to the office chair she had been sitting in since they returned from the soup kitchen. Grabbing them he glanced at the screen which still held the research they had been doing on the identity of their ghost. One of the old newspaper articles caught his eye and with a few keystrokes it was enlarged and he was quickly reading it. Smiling he left it up, knowing Tim would be down first thing in the morning and see the same thing he had. Picking up Babs’s things once more he made his way back to her room.

He got there and was happy to see her fast asleep, a text from her dad saying to call in the morning when she wanted to be picked up illuminating her face from where her phone must have fallen out of her hand. Dick picked it up off her pillow and set it on the nightstand. Placing her sneakers down next to it and leaning the crutch against it as well. Bending over Dick brushed a chaste kiss against her forehead. “Night Babs. Sweet dreams,” he whispered as he closed the door to head to his own room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been forever but I've been busy. I also know this is a pretty plotless chapter but I needed to get just a smidge of Dickbabs cuteness in. Their current ghost mystery shall pick up soon and after that the real case. Thanks for reading!


End file.
